Ever appeared in the throne room on Olympus, hands on her hips as she glowered at the gods, twenty feet tall in elaborate thrones. And looking nervous.

"I thought I told you," She said in a mock sweet tone, "not to get in my way," Her tone dissolved into a growl and several of the gods cringed.

"I-" Zeus started but she cut him off,

"You nothing," She stated, glaring at him, "I told you not to interfere, now you've got my parents mad at me again for screwing with the timelines. They don't like the wizarding types you know, and now that I've got myself mixed up in their business…" her arrogant mast faltered, but came back before most of the Olympians could notice, "Look, I gave you one simple request," She looked pointedly at each Olympian as she spoke, "and you failed to honor it," Some of the gods were visibly shaking at this point, the all powerful immortal beings terrified of a tiny half blood spouting threats in their stronghold.

"So," She continued, her angry tone becoming low, almost sweet, "I'll have to punish you…" Her smile was the most horrifying thing the gods of Olympus had ever seen.

And the little half blood gave them her punishment.

~oOo~

Nico wok in a cold sweat, stifling a scream. His dream was just a memory, he reminded himself, a twisted version of something that already happened. He ran his fingers through his shaggy hair and let out a breath. They had won the battle the day before, largely because of Ever's recommendations. Ever. That girl was a riddle. He pushed her out of his mind and gently detangled his limbs from Wills and slipped out of the closet, which they had found near the entrance to the dungeons.

He walked silently down the hall, straightening his clothes as he went. He didn't know where he was going, only that he needed to clear his head. He soon found himself in the seventh floor corridor, pacing the stretch of hall over and over. He stopped for a second to look out the window, gazing up at the stars. He watched the huntress for a time absently. He frowned, something was off. The huntress looked back down at him with an urgency in her single star eye that she shouldn't have been able to project, what with her being, you know, stars. He nodded to show that he saw and a shooting star shot from the end of her bow, fizzing out halfway through the sky. And, Nico thought, cold dread hardening in his gut, right over the closet where Will was sleeping.

He knew that he shouldn't jump to conclusions like that, but his mind and body were two separate entities as she found himself sprinting down the corridor. He made it to the closet and pushed the door open gently. Will was gone.

~oOo~

Will was faintly aware of chains around his wrists and ankles and the faraway voices of monsters above him. His ears rang and his head pounded, his entire body naked when he tried to move as if his muscles had been pumped full of lead. He groaned and tried to look up at his captors, dully wondering where Nico was.

The monsters above him came into focus, their grinding faces sending his mind into a frenzy. "DANGER!" his head shouted, clearing away the fog. He forced his limbs to move, finding that the chains weren't attached to anything. Odd, he thought and stood with a lot of difficulty and forcing his limbs into a fighting stance. Why don't they just attack me? He wondered, swinging a punch at the cyclops in front of him. There were snickers from the monsters when he dodged easily. He swung again, trying to hit the monsters around him, who continued to laugh at his futile efforts.

"Enough," an amused voice said from his left. The monsters parted to reveal a cloaked figure, layers of colored cloth covering every inch of their skin.

"Who…" Wills voice was horas, as if he'd drunk sand instead of water.

The figure chuckled, "Oh you poor little thing," Its voice was like silk, neither male nor female, just smooth, like water over pebbles in a gentle creek.

"I pity you," It said, gripping his chin with a gloved hand, the fingers under the leather strong and bony, "truly I do," their tone was sympathetic, in the way a butcher talking to sheep before the slaughter was sympathetic.

"I only wish I could give you a better fate," The figures hand moved to fast for Will to follow as it released its grip on his chin and grabbed his chains.

The figure dragged him forward, headed for a raised platform in front of a crowd of cheering monsters. Will fought back, trying to fight against the surprisingly firm pull of the chains. The cuffs on his wrists bit into his skin, rusty metal rubbing into fresh wounds. He grit his teeth, ignoring the voice telling him he was doomed. Rust was one thing that did not belong in his bloodstream.

As they neared the platform Will noticed a simple looking pillar of rock about three feet high in the center of what was clearly a stage. His eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He fought hard, coaxing louder jeers from the audience. He struggled against the chains, ignoring the pain as he tried to find an exit. There was none. He kept fighting regardless, he would rather be ripped apart by monsters than face what waited for him on the stage. A stone pillar, a stage, and audience, chains that connected to nothing. He was being brought up one stage as entertainment, sick, twisted, entertainment. It was flogging.

His suspicions were confirmed when he was dragged up the wooden steps and saw the whipp laying on the floor, stripps of barbed leather stretching from a long handle, the end of which a a single long spike. He shouted protests in desperation, hoping that his friends would swoop in at the last second to save him, that's what they were good at after all. No such thing happened.

He was dragged flailing uselessly to the center of the stage, the monster cheering excitedly below him and gnashing their teeth in enthusiasm. The figure locked his chains to the white stone and stepped back. He was shaking, curling himself as tightly as his restraints would allow as he wished for someone to help him. He was a healer, not a fighter. He could fight but that isn't what he was best at, he healed people, helped them get better.

If you don't get back, a voice whispered in his head, you will never get to see Nico get better. That thought hit him like a brick to the chest. Nico. The boy had gone through so much, losing his sister, braving the labyrinth alone, Tartarus, Eros. There were very few people he let in now, and he hardly smiled for anything. He wouldn't survive losing Will on top of all that, not when he'd only just started to heal.

When the whip first hit him he screamed in pain. The pain seared through his back and tore through his body, his every nerve crying out. When it came again he grit his teeth, determined not to give them the pleasure of hearing him scream again.

Will endured. He endured for Nico, the outcast who had been broken more times than anyone could count. He endured because he had to. If he didn't get back he didn't want to know what the young ghost king would do if he didn't.

I would apologize for this, but I'm not sorry. I did warn you, or maybe not, either way I did say I liked blood did I not. I'm posting several chapters at once because this one is pathetically short. Tell me what you think'll happen next, I really want to know, to helps me decide what to do, who to kill, and there will be blood, well, more of it. Enjoy!

P.S., if you want Will to survive tell me, if enough people vote not to break the ghost king I'll let him have his sunshine.